Strikeforce: Trevor Prangley Looks To Roger Gracie To Stay On Track

Halfway through 2010 it appeared that Trevor Prangley’s career in big shows might have come to an end.

A technical draw to Karl Amoussou followed by a surprisingly quick loss to Tim Kennedy had derailed Prangley’s return to Strikeforce. He was in need of a serious turnaround.

“I don’t worry about the loss that much. I’ve been around the game long enough to know people have lost fights and rebuilt themselves with a lot of success,” Prangley told MMAWeekly.com.

Trevor Prangley at UFC 54

“You’re never over until you decide to quit. If you want to keep going, you can always find a fight and rebuild your career, which is what I did when I went to Shark Fights.”

And it was at Shark Fights in September that Prangley was able to squeak by with a split decision victory over Keith Jardine that put things back on the right track.

“It’s always good to get a win, especially against a name like that,” stated Prangley. “If I had lost two in a row at that point in my career, I might be stuck fighting in small shows if I wanted to keep fighting.”

With the win, Prangley also regained the attention of Strikeforce, who will feature him on their upcoming Jan. 29 Diaz vs. Cyborg fight card against the undefeated Roger Gracie.

“It’s always great when you get another opportunity,” exclaimed Prangley. “It’s the last fight on my contract and I just need to get out there and perform.

“It’s going to be a really tough fight for me. He’s undefeated. He doesn’t know how to lose yet, so I’m curious to see how I’ll fare against him. I think it will be a competitive fight on both of our sides.”

Not only does Prangley have momentum on the MMA side of his career in 2010, he also made his big screen debut with a fellow Strikeforce star.

“I got an opportunity to make my first movie with Cung Le,” said Prangley. “That was a pretty good experience. I got to spend two weeks down in Louisiana on the set of Dragon Eyes and it was pretty good. It was interesting and I learned a lot.”

While Prangley is broadening his horizons, his focus still is firmly affixed on fighting and taking his career one step at a time.

“I’ve set my goals on championships before and have lost track of the short term stuff, and that’s where you start falling short of your goals because you’re so obsessed with reaching the end, you forget what’s coming in between,” he commented.

“Now, I’m just thinking about this fight and am not even considering what’s coming next. All I care about is the fight that’s in front of me at that time in my life.”

Having brought himself back from a career low one year to possibly its highest point the next, Prangley has proven himself resilient. He’s not ready to give up the fight any time soon.

“I want to thank the fans that have stuck with me, even when I’ve had down times, I’ve had lots of support and I appreciate them,” closed out Prangley. “I want to thank all the guys that have sponsored me in the past, there’s too many to mention, but they know who they are.

“The fans should come check us out. I think it’s going to be a good fight and Roger is going to take the first loss of his career. With fights that people don’t think I have a chance in, I’ve always managed to pull it off somehow, and I don’t intend to stop now.”

Prangley and Gracie will fight on the Strikeforce Jan. 29 event featuring Nick Diaz vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos in the main event on Showtime.